Group acquires land, building for project in downtown Las Vegas

A local development group is one step closer to developing a mixed-use tower and 300-room boutique hotel in downtown Las Vegas.

601 Fremont LLC announced last week that it had acquired the land and building at its namesake address. The development group is a partnership between Terry Caudill, owner of Binion’s and the Four Queens, and “Big Daddy” Carlos Adley and wife Ava Berman, owners of the Backstage Bar & Billiards and the Fremont Country Club music venues.

The development is expected to include a mixed-use tower with hotel units, residential units, entertainment, retail space and restaurant and bar facilities. Partners have not been announced, but Adley said the group plans to team up with one of the largest hotel chains in the country.

It “will be completely over the top and the epitome of what has made Vegas Las Vegas,” Adley said. “It will be very grandiose, but more importantly, it will maintain an intimate experience.”

Adley said the partnership started leasing the 1.25-acre site, located at the corner of Fremont Street and Sixth Street, from the city of Las Vegas in 2011. The land includes a three-story, 50,000-square foot building — formerly known as the Sears building — and nearly an acre of surface parking.

The project is set to include all-suite hotel rooms, a convention center, amenities such as an infinity pool and a network that allows guests to gamble online and stream music, according to Adley. He expects the project will bring “a whole new global demographic” to downtown.

“We want to work together as a community with everyone else and … complete the picture for downtown,” Adley said. “To fill in as many gaps as possible with the retail and the living component and adding to the overall lifestyle and culture that is so necessary for downtown as a place to live.”

The group, spearheaded by Adley and Berman, has been developing the concept for about 10 years. It will be working to finalize permits over the next few months before moving forward with construction, according to Adley. He estimates costs will be well over $100 million.

“We’re just bringing Vegas back to Vegas,” Berman said.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.